Truth Is
by SkylarRocaineDaughterofHermes
Summary: The gods can't stop arguing so Zeus decides that if they will behave like teenagers, then they should be teenagers. They go to camp undercover to spend some time with their children and find out what they really are like. And the truth is...
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This takes place the winter after the war with Gaea :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoO. If I did, nobody would read it...**

It was a peaceful day up in Olympus.

"WHAT THE HADES IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"

Or it _was_, at least...

"Aphrodite, it wasn't my fault! Why is it such a big deal?" Ares rolled his eyes.

"_Excuse_ me? You broke my favorite picture of Percabeth!" she screamed.

He snorted in response. "What kind of name is that? Percabeth. Sounds like a mash up between Percy and Annabeth."

She facepalmed. "Gods, you are such an idiot!" She waved her hand over the broken picture and it fixed itself and flew into her hand. "We. Are. OVER!" She stormed over to her throne and sat down dramatically.

"What? But you fixed it! Ah, forget you!" He stormed over to his throne and sat.

Over on the other side of the throne room, there was another argument going on.

"How could you!?" Demeter yelled, furious.

"Oh, chillax, Dee. It's just plant killer, no biggie." Hermes replied, looking bored.

Her eye twitched. "Just. Plant. Killer." she repeated.

"Yes! See, now you got it!" he praised.

She screamed in annoyance and stormed off like Aphrodite.

Hermes shrugged and went back to checking his texts.

And another.

"For the LAST time, I'M OLDER!"

"No no no, sis, I do believe I am older. If I wasn't, would I have made a haiku about it? Ahem.

Artemis is sad.

Because Apollo is cool.

And also older."

She covered her ears. "Stop, my ears are gonna start bleeding."

"Ah, but you don't have blood." He said, trying (and failing) to sound wise.

"Fine. My ears are going to start ichoring. Happy?" she said dryly.

He pouted. Then his face lit up. "You didn't deny that I'm older."

She srceamed through clenched teeth and exited the Aphrodite and Demeter style.

Apollo started making another haiku about being older.

And another.

"Why on Olympus would people choose a saltwater spring over an olive tree? Obviously they picked me!"

"You probably manipulated them with your goddess-of-wisdom-ness!"

"That is not grammatically correct and no I didn't! They just like me better!"

"Ha! So they were playing favorites!"

She groaned.

Dionysus, Hephaestus, and Hera were sitting on their thrones, amused and entertained by all of the childish behavior going on.

Finally Zeus decided to enter the throne room. He was expecting peace and quiet, the gods waiting patiently on their thrones for him to come and start the meeting.

Well, damn was he wrong.

"Enough!" He yelled, surveying the damage.

Ares was wearing a hot pink striped shirt with lime green plaid shorts. Hermes was dangling upside down from the ceiling wrapped in vines. A jackalope with the head of Apollo was about to be shot with one of Artemis's arrows. Poseidon had started an earthquake in Olympus and was about to cause a tsunami.

"Father, it was him!" Athena accused, pointing at Poseidon.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you that pointing is rude?" He glared at her.

"Shut up, Kelp Head."

"Owl Face."

"Seaweed-"

"Stop that!" Zeus seethed.

Dionysus looked up. "Hey, they're better than those brats at that camp... what's it called? Camp Quarter-Blood?"

"What are you talking about? The campers at _Camp Half-Blood_ are all sweethearts!" Aphrodite protested.

Arguments broke out after that one comment until Hestia said, "Um... hello?"

They all looked over at her. If there was one thing they had in common, it was that none of them hated her.

She continued. "Well, maybe you should go look for yourself. And spend some time there too. You could all use some time away from your godly duties to spend some time with your children. I mean, other than the fact that they're your children, you don't even know them..."

They looked at her for a few seconds, debating what she had just said.

Zeus spoke up. "That is a good idea. We will all go, and yes, it is mandatory!"

They all groaned.

"Fine, but if we must, we should go as new campers. Our children will behave differently if we are campers than if we are Olympians." Athena commented.

Zeus nodded. "Ok then daughter, what do you suggest?"

**AN: Sorry it's short. It was just supposed to be kinda a first view. The actual story starts after. So.. yea. Whadya think? Review! Love ya!**

**~Nessa**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Wow. I definitely wasn't expecting that. So thank you all SO much for all the reviews and faves and follows! Here it is!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO**

"Well," Athena said, "We will all need new names and looks. And we will also need to tell Chiron about this. He will definitely suspect that we are the gods, so best to just clear it up."

"Okay, then. Well this is my department so... hmm... aha! I got it!" Aphrodite snapped her fingers and all the gods, minus Dionysus and Hestia, transformed into teenagers, about 17 years old. "Hestia will be at camp, but not as a camper, to observe our progress, since it was her idea. And Dionysus will just... do whatever it is he does at camp."

Dionysus nodded in approvement, as well as the other gods. Hestia smiled.

"Good. Now let's go." Zeus said. He snapped his fingers and they appeared in front of Chiron.

Chiron was sorting through the morning cabin inspections when all of a sudden, Dionysus, Hestia, and 12 teenagers appeared in front of him.

"Wha- um, hello. I am Chiron. And you?"

A boy with black hair and stormy eyes spoke. "It is us Chiron, the gods. We have come here because we need to get away from Olympus and reinstate ourselves."

Another boy with blonde hair and blue eyes spoke up. "Yea, but the way Zeus says it, it makes it sound like rehab..."

Chiron looked amused. "I would be willing to bet 50 drachmas that you are Apollo."

He smiled. "I am!"

Artemis snickered.

"Chiron!" called a voice from outside. Annabeth came running in with a nervous Percy behind her. "The Stolls dyed my entire cabin's hair _pink_!" And they did. Annabeth's hair was a soft pink, with a single gray streak from holding up the sky. The streak couldn't be dyed a different color.

"Hey, um Chiron? Who are they?" Percy asked, pointing at the twelve teenagers. Annabeth seemed to just notice them for the first time.

Athena snickered, remembering what Poseidon had said about pointing fingers.

Dionysus sighed. "Well isn't it obvious? They're new campers, Peter."

Annabeth glared. "It's Percy. And what we mean is they look 17. The gods promised that they would claim all demigods by the time they turned 13. Don't tell me they _already_ broke their promise."

The teenagers glared at her.

"Yes, Annabeth. But we already know the parentage of all of these demigods."

She smiled. "Ok." Then she turned to them. "What are your names?"

One by one, they spoke.

"Shane Aetos." He had perfectly groomed black hair and stormy gray eyes. He was, or at least acted like he was, the leader of the group. (Zeus)

"Nicholas Trian." He had messy black hair and sea green eyes. He seemed like a leader too, but more laid back. He smiled at Percy. (Poseidon)

"Diego Skotadi." He had black hair and black emotionless eyes. He sounded bitter, as if he was jealous of the other two, but couldn't focus too much on that because he had his own problems. (Hades)

"Amelia Agelada." She had braided black hair and brown eyes. Her voice sounded regal and proud, like a queen. She glared at Annabeth. (Hera)

"Kristin Sitaria." She had wavy brown hair that was tied into a high ponytail and bright green eyes. She had a nature vibe to her, but also a _don't piss me off or else_ vibe. (Demeter)

"Blake Kleftis." He had curly brown hair and mischievous blue eyes. He seemed laid back and careless. (Hermes)

"Noah Kapros." He had a brown military buzz cut and brown eyes with a tint of red in them. He sounded as if someone had pissed him off recently and was oddly wearing a hot pink striped shirt with lime green plaid shorts. The Aphrodite cabin were going to freak. He glared at Percy. (Ares)

"Sofis Panolia." She had blonde hair that was in a messy bun and stormy gray eyes. She seemed like the only smart and reasonable one in the group, but her look told you not to get on her bad side unless you wished to be burned to a crisp. She smiled at Annabeth, then glared at Blake after noticing her hair. (Athena)

"Aiden Kyrarma." He had blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was about to start saying something else (a haiku), but someone cut him off. (Apollo)

"Misty Velosa." She had auburn hair that was in a side braid and gray, almost silver, eyes. She smiled at Annabeth and glared at Percy. (Artemis)

"Mason Amoni." He had messy brown hair and brown eyes. He sounded uncomfortable, as if he wasn't used to being around people. (Hephaestus)

"Deenie Perister." She had lush brown hair and color changing eyes. She radiated love and was gorgeous, and seemed to enjoy attention. (Aphrodite)

Annabeth and Percy nodded. Annabeth looked suspicious, but snapped out of it when she noticed their questioning looks. "Ok great! Would you guys like a tour of camp?"

They all looked at Shane (Zeus). "Uh…"

Chiron stepped in and saved him from answering. "I think they're okay, Annabeth. They can go and take a look themselves."

Annabeth fake smiled. "Ok. Well I should go now. Come on Percy."

She dragged him outside then turned to look at him.

"What? What are you thinking Wise Girl?" He questioned, noticing the look in her eyes.

"I'm not sure, but there's definitely something going on here. And I'm going to find out what."

The gods looked nervously at each other after the two had left.

"Theena, your daughter definitely suspects something..." Poseidon said nervously.

"Well, duh. She is _my_ daughter." She rolled her eyes.

He glared at her. "You know what I mean."

"Do I?" She asked innocently.

"Ok then!" Hestia interrupted before another fight blew over. "Why don't we go outside?"

"Sure."

"Whatever."

"Fine."

They headed outside to the lawn in front of the Big House and looked around at camp. The campers were walking around, not really paying much attention to them.

Aphrodite squealed. "Apollo! Hermes!" They turned to look at her and saw her pointing at two people. The girl had dirty blonde hair and was holding the hand of a boy with blonde hair.

The girl got a confused look on her face and pointed over to the gods. The boy looked over and shrugged. The girl started pulling on the boy's hand. He started resisting. She let go of his hand and pouted. Then she turned on her heel and started walking over to them.

"Hi, are you guys new campers?" she asked. "I'm Skylar, daughter of Hermes."

"Yes we are, but we know our Olympian parent, so they aren't breaking any rules, and nice to meet you." Apollo said.

She shrugged. "Yea, it'd be pretty annoying if they broke their promise after only one year, especially since they swore on the Styx."

Some nodded in agreement, while some glared at Zeus and Poseidon at the mention of swearing on the Styx. The others glared at Skylar.

The boy walked up behind her and grabbed her hand. "Sorry about her." He mock glared at her. "She sometimes doesn't think before she speaks."

"Shut up Will. And yea, I guess it's the Hermes side of me…" she rolled her eyes. Demeter smirked.

He rolled his eyes back. "Or it could be the Skylar side of you."

"Eh, probably. Anyways, nice meeting you all. See ya around."

They walked off together, and the gods were left in silence.

"They really don't give us much credit, do they?" Hermes asked.

Demeter looked over. "Nooo… What was your first clue?" she said sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes.

Hestia cleared her throat. "Okay, so you guys can go in groups to look around camp. I will be making the groups, and no switching." She looked pointedly at Apollo, Ares, and Hermes.

They all nodded.

"The groups will be Zeus and Hera, Poseidon and Athena, Hades and Aphrodite, Ares and Hephaestus, Demeter and Hermes, and Apollo and Artemis.

**AN: That's all I got for now. I swear the next chapter will be longer! So whadya think? Review! Love ya!**

**~Nessa**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thank you, thank you, thank you! And guess what? IT'S PERCABETH'S ANNIVERSARY!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the awesomeness know as PJO or HoO…**

Athena groaned. "Do we _have_ to be paired up with the person we hate most?"

Poseidon looked offended. "I don't _hate_ you, it's a very strong mutual dislike."

She gave him a death glare and he practically wilted under it. Of course, it wasn't as good as Hades's death glare, but a pretty close second.

Hestia smiled. "Of course. What's the point of the whole coming down to earth thing if you don't work out your problems?"

"Hanging with our kids?" Apollo guessed.

Artemis rolled her eyes and smacked him on the back of the head.

"Idiot." She murmured under her breath.

He pouted. "Rude."

She gave him a _do I look like I care_ look.

Hermes yelped. The grass around his feet was growing incredibly fast around his legs. "Help! Kristin! (Demeter)"

Zeus sighed. "Kristin, cut it out."

"Fine. But he deserved it." Demeter said, annoyed.

Hermes pouted. "What did I ever do to you?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You remember the plant killer?"

"I thought we were over that!"

"It happened like half an hour ago!"

"Well, someone knows how to hold a grudge."

"Keep talking and you'll see what really happens when I hold a grudge." She glared at him, then at Hades.

"Don't bring me into this." Hades said.

"Oh, you're already a part of this, ever since you-"

"Okay!" Hestia said. "The groups are final, so you can either go and get it over with or stay here and complain."

They started grumbling but walked off in their groups none the less.

Hermes followed Demeter. "Do you even know where you're going?"

"No, but maybe if I keep walking, you'll go away."

"That doesn't even make any sense!"

"Do I look like I care?"

"No, but-"

"Do me a favor and shut up, will you?"

"No."

She turned around so fast, he almost ran into her. "Look, I didn't ask to be here."

He rolled his eyes. "And you think I did?"

"Who knows what goes on in that peanut you call a brain?" she muttered. "And anyway- no. No, no, no!" She looked horrified.

"What is it this- oh gods, no." He said turning around.

They both turned back around facing away from what they just saw. Both their eyes were wide.

"Uh… let's go." Demeter said, grabbing Hermes's hand and pulling him away towards the strawberry fields. He stiffened, but let her take him away.

The scene they had just witnessed was absolutely terrifying… at least to them it was. Travis Stoll had Katie Gardner pushed up against a tree with both of his hands on either side of her face. He was smiling and saying something to her, while leaning forward. The two gods looked away after that. They didn't want to see _any_ more.

Was this how it was gonna be if they pretended to be campers? The demigods knew better than to act like that in front of the gods, but around people who they thought were regular campers… they would just be themselves… no matter how scary that was.

Aphrodite and Hades had watched the whole thing. From their expressions to seeing their kids, to the way Hermes's face had turned bright red when Demeter grabbed his hand.

"Aw, Hades! Aren't they adorable?" she gushed happily.

"No." he replied drily.

Her happy mood disappeared like that (snaps fingers). She glared at him. "Lighten up! And for our sake, get rid of all the black. Try some… magenta!" She said, gesturing to his all black shirt, jeans, and shoes.

He looked at her weirdly. "What the me? Magenta? Are you insane?"

"No. That's Dionysus." She replied flatly.

"Wonderful. Now can we go and get this over with?"

"That's the smartest thing you've said all day."

They glared at each other for a few more seconds, then started walking over to the cabin area.

Over by the dock, Poseidon and Athena were smiling and talking peacefully.

Pshh, as if that would ever happen. This is what really happened.

"Oh my us, you're such an idiot!"

"It wasn't my fault!"

"Yes, because _I'm_ the one who pushed _you_ off the dock."

"Well you pulled me in with you!"

"And that explains why we're in the middle of the lake how?"

"You… uh, I, um…"

"Yea, that's what I thought."

"Well arguing isn't gonna help us."

"No shit."

They were in the middle of the lake, holding on to one of the buoys. How they had gotten there, well that was a pretty long story.

To make it short, Athena and Poseidon were wondering where they should go when Poseidon decided to drag- I mean, take them to the dock. There, he thought it would be funny to push Athena off the dock, but she ended up pulling him in with her at the last moment. In his shock, he had accidently taken them both out into the middle of the lake.

He was going to take them back, but a few campers decided to come by at that moment, and stare at them. One of them ran off and came back a few minutes later with Percy.

Athena let out a shriek as Percy willed the waves to carry them back. Poseidon grabbed her hand in an attempt to calm her down, but of course she punched him with her free hand instead. It didn't hurt, as he was in the water, but she still did.

"Poseidon! You idiot, you're dry!"

He thankfully understood and willed himself to get wet, and just in time too. Percy had the water bring them in front of him, still standing.

"Um… what were you two doing out there?" Percy asked.

Poseidon stammered. "We, uh… we just… um…"

Athena rolled her eyes. "Well, me and Nicolas here were on the docks when he pushed me in and I pulled him in with me. I guess your dad was in a bad mood cus we got dragged out by the currents."

He nodded, satisfied. He walked back over to where Annabeth was standing, studying them intensely. She briefly glanced at their hands, before smiling at Percy and walking away with him.

Athena looked down and shook her hand free of his.

"Oh… um…" He started embarrassed.

She rolled her eyes and started walking away, knowing that he would follow, which he did.

"So Kelp Head, got any idea as of what to do now?"

"No, what bout you, Owl Face?"

And it continued like that for a while.

Hera glared at Zeus.

"What? My cabin only has _two_ people in it!" Zeus complained. "I mean, Apollo's has like 20!"

"Yes, but Apollo doesn't have a wife, and he never swore on the Styx to not have any more children." Hera said calmly, trying not to lose her temper.

"Um… I, uh… love you?" he tried.

"Save it." And then she turned and walked away. (**AN: Sorry, that's all I got for them…**)

The campers were gathered in the arena, watching the two people in the middle, fight.

They watched in awe as they slashed at each other; it was like they really wanted to kill each other. They guy in the blood red t-shirt had the upper hand, but the one that had the brown t-shirt with the volcano on it was coming back.

"Damn," One kid muttered. "He's even better than Clarisse."

Clarisse, who was also in the crowd of people, spun around. "Beat it, punk!"

He gulped and ran away.

The fight was getting intense. They both didn't look tired at all, just enraged.

The one in red was starting to glow, for some reason. Before anyone could see what was going to happen, Sofia (Athena) ran into the Arena.

"Noah! (Ares) Mason! (Hephaestus)" she screamed. "Calm down!"

Noah whipped around to face her. "Stay out of this Sofia!"

"This is about Deenie (Aphrodite), isn't it!" That seemed to have struck a nerve. She groaned in frustration. "You idiots!" She grabbed both of their hands and dragged them out of the arena, Poseidon following her.

When they were out and alone, she glared at the two of them. "Are you two stupid? Wait, don't answer that. Do you realize you could've just blown our cover in there? Get over this whole drama thing! Aphrodite may be the goddess of flirty flings and whatnot, but she's also the goddess of true love, so she will pick the correct man when it comes to that. But this," she waved her hand at the two of them, "this is not going to help what so ever."

They both glared at her, but realizing they couldn't win an argument against the goddess of wisdom, both grumbled an apology and stalked away.

She sighed and turned back to Poseidon, who had an amused look on his face.

"What now?" she asked, exasperated.

He held up his hands in surrender. "Oh nothing, just never thought I would see the day where Athena would say 'flirty.'" He winked at her and walked off, leaving her to glare at his retreating figure.

Over by the archery ranges, things were _not_ going good.

Artemis had turned Apollo into a jackalope with his own head again, and let's just say they were playing hide and seek… bow and arrow style.

She finally found him hiding behind one of the trees, and quickly shot an arrow at him. He reacted too late and gave him a good size cut on the forehead. (**AN: That was for you, Foxbracken – Phoenix Everren!**)

She smiled smugly and turned around, to find about 20 campers staring at her in shock.

Before any of them could run away to tell anyone else about this, she quickly but sharply snapped her fingers. "You did not just see any of that. Aiden just hit his head on a tree and that is red blood, not gold. Now look away, and go."

They did as told.

Apollo stumbled up to her. "Oh gods, what just happened? That tree hurt."

She smacked him on the back of the head. "The mist was supposed to affect only the demigods, not you too!"

Percy, Annabeth, and another girl with frizzy red hair walked up to them.

"Hey guys! Woah, what happened to your head?" she said.

Apollo just stood there in shock, staring at her.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "He ran into a tree."

"Funny looking tree…" Annabeth said, looking at them skeptically.

"Um… yea, I guess… but this _is_ Aiden we're talking about."

Percy laughed. "That's what Anna here says about me!"

She punched him on the arm. "Do _not_ call me Anna! And yes, yes I do." She said, smiling.

"Ahah, well we should get going now. See you guys later." The redhead said.

The others said bye and left.

Artemis turned back to Apollo, who was still looking in shock.

She snapped her fingers in front of her face. "What, can't talk around people now, or something?" she asked, confused.

He looked at her. "Was that R-Rachel?"

"Yes." She replied, not getting his point. "Why?"

"Oh, um, nothing… just wondering."

She looked at him weirdly. "Okaaaaaaay. Well let's go, unless of course, you want to be stuck here all year."

He rolled his eyes at her and they both walked away.

Over by the other three, Annabeth and Rachel were thinking about the recent situation, while Percy just… wasn't thinking at all.

"And that _did_ kinda look like an arrow," said Rachel.

"Yea, it did…" Annabeth commented.

They kept talking for a while until the lunch bell rang.

"Come on let's go." Annabeth said, and her and Rachel got up. Percy was on the ground asleep. She rolled her eyes. "Come on, Seaweed Brain. Lunch time."

He shot up from the ground. "Food!"

She laughed and grabbed his hand as they walked over to the pavilion. "Only you, Seaweed Brain, only you."

**AN: Sooo… what do ya think? And sorry for the wait! I was sick yesterday and slept for 36 hours straight… Anyways, review! Peace!**

**~Nessa**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I can not begin to say how much I mean it when I say thank you! I really couldn't have done this without you guys! Sorry for the wait!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO :(**

The gods stared at each other. What were they going to do about the seating arrangements for lunch? And the cabins? The Big Three would have even _more_ explaining to do, not to mention Hera and Artemis.

"Well?" Poseidon prompted. "Theena, you're supposed to be the smart one here... What do we do?"

She thought hard. "I don't know. (**AN: Gasp!**) I suppose we could just... hmm... I got it!"

They looked at her waiting for an answer, but she dismissed them and went to talk to Chiron.

"Well that was a bust..." Ares commented helpfully.

"Nooo, we had no clue." Hephaestus retorted sarcastically.

Before another full blown fight could start like the one in the arena, Athena walked back over. "Okay, guys. Get your lunch."

They were all confused but did as she instructed.

After doing so, they all looked over at her wondering where to go. She subtly gestured over to Chiron.

Speaking of the horse man, he stood up and went over to them. "Shane, Nicholas, Diego, Amelia, and Misty. Please take your food and go to the big house. You are needed there." Then he walked back to the head table.

Athena looked at them. "You five obviously can't sit at your tables, so this is the best I could come up with on short notice. On the bright side, you get to sit together." She smiled brightly as they grumbled and took off. "As for the rest of you, just go and sit at your regular tables." They shrugged and walked over to their respective tables.

Over at the big house, the five gods were trying to figure out where to eat.

"Why is it this hard?" Artemis said, annoyed.

"Well I don't want to sit in the infirmary." Zeus replied, whining like a three year old.

Hera groaned. "Man up. Me and Artemis are going to the rec room. Join us if you want. Goodbye."

The two goddesses walked off in the direction of the recreation/meeting room. After looking at each other for a split second, the three gods followed.

"You know I really don't appreciate being told to man up." Zeus said, glaring at Hera.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, if I didn't, nobody would have, and it seriously had to be told."

He pouted in lack of a come back and went back to eating his food.

When they were all done, they went outside to find a small group of people talking.

Artemis was the first to speak. "Hey guys, what's going on?"

"You missed the announcement at breakfast but we're all apparently going to be put into groups for bonfires!" Katie said. "Chiron's gonna announce the groups-"

"Heroes! May I have your attention?" speaking of the centaur...

"now." Katie finished.

Chiron started to announce the groups for the bonfires. There was going to be one at the pavilion, the amphitheather, and others. "And finally, the beach. The people there will be Percy, Annabeth, Skylar, Will, Travis, Connor, Katie, Lou Ellen, Clarisse, Chris, Jason, Piper, Leo, Reyna, Hazel, Frank, Shane, Nicholas, Diego, Deenie, Sofia, Misty, Amelia, Kristin, Noah, Mason, Blake, and Aiden."

They all nodded. It was a pretty good group.

**AN: Sorry its so short! I'm seriously blocked! :( And question. So since schools starting (-_-), could you guys pick one of the options?**

**A- quicker but shorter updates, like once or twice a week with around 1000 words**

**B- slower but longer updates, like once every one or two weeks with around 2000 words**

**Please review and tell me what you'd prefer! You guys are awesome! Love ya!**

**~Nessa**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hey! :D So most people chose A, so that's what I'll do!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO**

Athena looked around. Everyone was walking around to meet with their groups.

She walked over to hers. (**AN: Just pretend that Chiron also said Thalia, Nico, Nyssa, Malcolm, and Rachel for their group :D**)

Percy was… excited. To say the least. Either that, or he had just chugged a bottle of coke right before this. Hmm… probably both.

"Oh my gods, and then we can play truth or dare, and we can play spin the bottle, and we can have s'mores! Oh, yea, definitely s'mores!"

"Percy." Said Annabeth. He didn't listen. "Percy! PERCY!" she slapped him across the face.

"Ow!" he yelled. "Gods, what was that for!?"

She shrugged. "You wouldn't shut up… oh, and NO s'mores for you tonight."

He pouted. "Fine."

"Oh my gods, Percy. Are you still letting Annabeth push you around?" Thalia laughed, walking up with Nico.

The two of them were the youngest ones here.

Thalia had quit the hunt right after the war. The only reason she'd joined in the first place was to avoid being the prophecy child, and since that was over, there really was no reason for her to continue.

Nico was a different case. Forgetting the fact that he'd been in the Lotus Hotel, he was supposed to be 13. But during the war, he was under Gaea's control, and as the seven demigods were defeating her, he had been aged so he was 16.

Percy glared at Thalia. "No, I could beat her any day."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows in amusement. "Oh, really? Care to prove that statement, Seaweed Brain?" She took out her knife and ran her finger along the edge.

"Uh…" Percy said, darting his eyes in between Annabeth and Thalia.

Nico laughed and put his hand on his shoulder. "Face it man, you're done."

Percy frowned. "Whatever. I'm still the hero of Olympus." He grumbled, as the gods exchanged amused looks.

"Actually, I believe my _shoulder_ is the hero." Annabeth countered, remembering the poison from the blade that almost killed Percy.

Percy sighed. He never could win, could he?

"No, you can't." Ares said smugly.

The demigods looked at him strangely. His eyes widened.

Athean piped up. "What he means is, that's probably what you were thinking, right?" She shot Ares a look as the demigods urned to Percy, minus Annabeth of course.

"Uh, yea…" Percy said.

They all stood in silence.

"Well this definitely _isn't_ awkward!" Skylar commented cheerfully.

The demigods and Hermes burst out laughing, while the rest of the gods stood there confused.

"Sarcasm." Hermes thought to them.

They all cracked a smile at that, even though they still didn't get it.

**AN: I am blocked. That is all I have to say. But I had to upload **_**something**_** so you guys didn't kill me. Ok, so could you guys submit some truths and dares for the bonfire? That would be awesome! :) And also…**

If you're a fan of Percabeth, Thalico, Tratie, Jasper, Leyna, and Frazel, please please please check out my new story Love Leads the Way! First chapter's over 3000 words!

Summary: The girls get kidnapped by Aphrodite, so it's up to the guys to save them before it's too late. Using a series of clues given to them by Aphrodite, they have to go and save their true loves.

**Thanks a bunch! Please review! Love ya!**

**~Nessa**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Gods, my inspiration is gone… So sorry if this chapter sucks… But on the bright side, I HAVE 94 REVIEWS! I swear, you guys are more amazing than anything! More amazing than Pop Tarts! And that's saying a lot…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO**

**And per request, I'm gonna be putting this up every chapter:**

**Aphrodite - Deenie Perister**

**Athena - Sofia Panolia**

**Artemis - Misty Velosa**

**Hera - Amelia Agelada**

**Demeter - Kristin Sitaria**

**Ares - Noah Kapros**

**Hephaestus - Mason Amoni**

**Hermes - Blake Kleftis**

**Zeus - Shane Aetos**

**Poseidon - Nicholas Trian**

**Hades - Diego Skotadi**

**Apollo - Aiden Kyrarma**

Katie POV

One day, I was going to murder those Stolls.

They have absolutely nothing better to do than prank my cabin. And now that they have that new kid, Blake, to prank with, my life is going to be Hades.

So back to the present.

I walked away from the group of people that were going to be in my group for the bonfire.

I was with Kristin. She and I had turned out to be pretty good friends. She seemed to love gardening, and she sort of looked like me, so she was definitely a daughter of Demeter. I was pretty glad, I could use someone to help me deal with the Stolls. At least, someone in my cabin.

Other than the Demeter cabin, they also pranked the Hecate cabin a lot. Lou Ellen and I would then go and yell our heads off at those two. (**AN: Ok, so pretend that before when Travis and Katie were by the tree in chapter 3, they weren't going out. It was all a joke and all that...**)

It was a routine process that happened about two, maybe three times a day. See how amazing my life is?

"So," said Kristin, "I already got a tour, but what do you like to do here?"

I thought for a moment. "Well, every day is different, but I have two things that stay consistant: yelling at the Stolls and gardening at the strawberry fields."

Her eyes lit up at this. "Ooh, can I see the fields?" she said excitedly.

I laughed. "Sure!"

We walked over to the fields and I showed her how to take care of the strawberries and everything.

She looked pretty eager to try it out, so I let her go over to a different part of the fields. She was a daughter of Demeter, she couldn't mess up at this.

Suddenly I was wishing I had stayed with her.

"Stoll," I greeted coolly.

"Gardner," he replied smirking. "So do you like whipped cream?"

I looked up at him, confused. "I'm sorry, did I just hear you right? Did you just say _whipped cream_?"

He nodded. "Yep."

I was speechless. How were you supposed to reply to something like that?

"Um... yes?" I replied, it coming out as a question.

He smiled. "Good, well then I guess you'll like our little present to your cabin."

I stared at him with wide eyes, shocked.

He smiled wider and said a quick, "See ya later, Gardner," before turning around and sprinting away.

"Get back here, Kleftis!" I heard Kristin's voice say from the other side of the fields. Then I saw Blake run out from the strawberries and meet up with Travis. The two of them ran away smirking, followed by a very pissed off Kristin, who was soaking wet.

I ran up to her. "What happened?"

She looked at me. Her eyes were filled with one clear emotion, rage. "That... idiot! Blake! Gods, one day I'm going to-"

"It's ok." I cut her off. "You'll get used to it. Come on, let's go to the cabin."

She nodded and we walked over to the cabin, earning some curious looks from the other campers.

I got to the door first, Kristin following me close behind. I opened the door. I heard a whooshing sound, and then two empty cans of whipped cream fell by my feet.

Where was the whipped cream? Covering me from head to toe.

Kristin came and stood by me, her eyes wide and her jaw dropped.

"STOLL!" I screeched. As I was about to go and hunt for him, Kristin grabbed my hand.

"Wait. I'll go deal with him and Kleftis. You can go shower." she said.

I had to get this stuff off of me before something else happened. Knowing Travis, he would probably put cement in it and if it dried while it was still on me...

I nodded and walked inside. Nothing else happened, so I went inside the bathroom and took a quick shower and washed my hair.

I got out and put on a fresh pair of jeans and a camp t-shirt. I turned and looked in the mirror.

I was so shocked I couldn't even scream.

My hair was green.

**AN: Yea, the last part was kinda a bust... So I'm thinking the bonfire will just be a small part of the next chapter, not anything huge... And also, if you would like a chapter to be about a specific demigod, god, or couple, please leave it in a review or PM me :) Thanks! Peace!**

**~Nessa**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: OMG I'm SO sorry! I haven't updated in forever! :( Ok, so this chapter is dedicated to my 100th reviewer, MysticLion :)**

**Aphrodite - Deenie Perister**

**Athena - Sofia Panolia**

**Artemis - Misty Velosa**

**Hera - Amelia Agelada**

**Demeter - Kristin Sitaria**

**Ares - Noah Kapros**

**Hephaestus - Mason Amoni**

**Hermes - Blake Kleftis**

**Zeus - Shane Aetos**

**Poseidon - Nicholas Trian**

**Hades - Diego Skotadi**

**Apollo - Aiden Kyrarma**

Artemis POV

I have had it with this. Guys just _keep_ hitting on me. It makes me want to throw up. Uh, hello? Maiden goddess here! But of course, at the moment, I am Misty Velosa, demigod...

Speaking of annoying guys...

"Yo lil sis, can you believe we're in the same group for the bonfire?" Apollo said, coming up.

I facepalmed. "Actually, as hard as it is to believe," I started sarcastically, "I _can_ believe it."

"Yea... hey do you think it was a coincidence that all of... _us_ were put in the same group?

"You know what? I'm done talking to you. You're stupidity might be contagious. Go and talk to your oracle or something."

He blushed cherry red and nodded. He ran off in the direction that Rachel had gone.

I rolled my eyes and turned around. All of a sudden, someone crashed into me and sent us both tumbling onto the ground, them on top of me.

I looked and saw that it was… a boy. I almost started to glow in annoyance, but I remembered I was supposed to be a demigod.

Gods, this was frustrating.

I waited for the boy to get off of me, but he never did. I furrowed my eyebrows and he finally seemed to realize what was happening.

He got up and pulled me up.

"Sorry, didn't see you there." He said apologetically.

"Obviously." I replied coldly. He got a hurt look on his face, and I realized I shouldn't have said that. "Sorry, just having a bad day."

"It's ok. Hey you're one of the new demigods that got here today, aren't you? Um… Misty, right?" He asked.

"Yep!" I said, popping the p. "Misty Velosa, nice to meet you."

"Cool. I'm Ryan, son of Dionysus." He said, smiling.

I smiled back, even though I was throwing up inside.

Ryan had dark hair, almost black. His eyes were a brownish shade, with tints of purple. Something was familiar about him, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Something about the way he looked, it was almost the same as…

I gasped. No, it couldn't be.

He got a concerned look on his face. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Oh gods, he even talked like him!

I started stuttering and backing up. "Uh… y-yes. I have to go… um, call my… boyfriend!" I said, and then broke out into a run.

"Wait! We don't have phones!" He called out from behind me.

"I'll write a letter!" I called back.

I continued running as fast as I could to the Big House. I ran past a soaking wet Demeter, who was scolding Hermes about something.

I burst into the room I shared with Hera and crashed onto the bed.

I screamed into my pillow for five minutes. When I was finished, I walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

Ryan looked almost _exactly_ like Orion, the hero I had fallen in love with centuries ago.

I mentally slapped myself.

Oh gods, what would I do? How was I supposed to survive with him here.

This time, I actually slapped myself. Perfect timing too.

Hera stared at me through the open door of the bathroom.

"Um, why are you slapping yourself?" She asked, looking at me strangely.

I let out a small laugh. "Oh, you know…" I said, coming out of the bathroom.

She sat down on her bed. "Would it have anything to do with the son of Dionysus I saw you talking to earlier?" She looked at me knowingly.

I groaned. "Ugh, he looks and acts just like Orion!"

She smiled at me sympathetically. She knew how it felt, not being able to fall in love because of your status as a goddess. I was the goddess of maidenhood, so it was obvious why I couldn't have children. Hera was the goddess of marriage, so her cheating on her husband was a big no no, despite everything he would do.

"I'm gonna go and look for him." She said. I stared at her. She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I'm not going to say anything, I just wanna look into this whole thing a little bit. Chill out, I'll be back soon."

She left the room and left me deciding what I should do now. I laid on my stomach on my bed and turned on the tv. Because the five of us couldn't stay in our cabins, they had us stay in the Big House and we could deck out our rooms however we wanted.

I was watching some weird wedding channel on Hephaestus tv that Hera must have left on from before.

Just as I was getting to the good part, the bride running away from true love to fulfill her dream to be an engineer, there was a pounding noise on the door.

I groaned and got up. I opened the door to find Apollo.

"What?" I asked testily.

"Chill lil sis. It's time for the bonfire."

**AN: Ok, ok. I am officially prepared for you to come at me with pitchforks and stuff like that. It's been THREE WEEKS since I last updated, probably longer… Ok, so next chapter will FINALLY be the bonfire! I still need some ideas for truth or dare, so if you have any, PLEASE leave it in a review! And I'm so sorry this is such a short chapter, I had zero time… Thank you all SO FREAKING MUCH for getting me to a hundred reviews! Love ya!**

**~Nessa**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Here is the bonfire chapter, finally! Sorry, I'm a major procrastinator… it's a skill…**

Aphrodite - Deenie Perister

Athena - Sofia Panolia

Artemis - Misty Velosa

Hera - Amelia Agelada

Demeter - Kristin Sitaria

Ares - Noah Kapros

Hephaestus - Mason Amoni

Hermes - Blake Kleftis

Zeus - Shane Aetos

Poseidon - Nicholas Trian

Hades - Diego Skotadi

Apollo - Aiden Kyrarma

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO**

Apollo POV

Artemis groaned. "Fine. I'll be there in a sec."

Then she slammed the door in my face.

"Well, thank you for that…" I muttered to myself.

I turned and started walking out. Wait. Where was I going again?

Oh yeah, the bonfire.

I jogged over to the bonfire pit. It was still a little early. The only people there were me and… Rachel.

What? No, of course I don't think of her in that way. She's my Oracle… Stop staring at me!

She came and sat next to me. "Hey Aiden, what's up?"

"Uh… hehe, not much. What bout you, Rach?" I said, back, with a shaky voice.

"Are you ok? You look a little flustered…" she said, a concerned expression on her face.

I gave her a weak smile.

Thankfully, the others came before I had to give a response to that awkward question.

Rachel went to talk to one of the other girls, Skylar, I think. She was dating my son, Will.

The others started taking their seats around the campfire. Percy sat down next to Annabeth and put an arm around her waist, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Of course, Poseidon had great timing. He took a drink of coke right as Percy did that. Poseidon's eyes widened and he did a spit take all over Athena, who was just walking by.

"P- Nicholas! What the Hades is wrong with you!?" she screamed at him.

"Hey!" Hades said to her, looking offended.

"What?" she asked testily.

Hades sulked. "Nothing."

"Ugh," Athena said, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "Now I have to go change. I'll be right back."

"Wait. You shouldn't go alone. Here, I'll go with you." Annabeth said, getting up.

"No, I'll go. It's my fault anyways." Poseidon said.

Athena didn't look to happy about that, but she walked away with him, as Annabeth sat back down into the embrace of Percy.

"So who's ready to get this party started?" I said, a smile coming onto my face.

Everyone cheered.

"I have an idea." Connor said, a smirk coming onto his face. "Two words. Truth. Or. Dare."

Lou Ellen rolled her eyes. "That was three words, idiot. But actually that's a great idea."

Athena POV

We walked out of my cabin, me dressed in new, _dry_ clothes.

"Your hair isn't that good looking." I said to Poseidon.

Don't ask why. We had just started talking, and somehow, the topic had ended up on this.

Suddenly, I slipped on a puddle on the floor. I felt strong arms grab me and steady me.

I looked up and met Poseidon's eyes. I hitched my breath.

"But your eyes are really pretty though," I said breathlessly.

"Ditto." He said softly, leaning in a little.

Just as our lips were about to meet, I heard Nyssa's voice right next to us. "Hey guys, have you seen Malcolm?"

Poseidon pulled me back up into a standing position and I cleared my throat. "Um, I think he's at the bonfire already. We were just on our way there right now. Uh, let's go." I plastered on a fake smile.

The three of us walked there in an uncomfortable silence.

The only thoughts going on in my head were, _Was I really just about to kiss Poseidon?_

Apollo POV

Athena, Poseidon, and Nyssa came back and sat down. Poseidon and Athena both had bright red faces for some reason…

(**AN: People in their group for the bonfire are all the gods and goddesses, Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Jason, Nyssa, Malcolm, Piper, Rachel, Thalia, Nico, ****Skylar, Will, Travis, Connor, Katie, Lou Ellen, Clarisse, Chris, Reyna, Hazel, and Frank.**)

"Sooo… who wants to go first?" Zeus asked.

Everyone looked at each other, but kept silent.

Nico and Thalia whispered something to each other and then smirked.

Thalia got up. "Hey Annabeth, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yea, sure Thals." Annabeth replied. The two of them walked off together.

As soon as the two of them were out of earshot, Nico turned to Percy. "I'm going first. So, Percy, truth or dare?"

Percy puffed out his chest, trying to act like a man. "Dare, of course."

Nico smirked. "I dare you to soak Annabeth with water when she comes back."

Percy's eyes widened. Even he knew not to mess with Annabeth. "F-f-fine."

Annabeth and Thalia walked back towards the group. "She forgot what she wanted to-"

Whoosh!

Five gallons of water poured onto Annabeth.

It was dead silent. People looked as if they were trying not to laugh for their own sakes, and some looked at Percy sympathetically.

Annabeth shot him a death glare. "Percy. Jackson. WHAT IN THE NAME OF HADES WERE YOU THINKING!?"

Everyone burst out laughing at Percy's expression. "I, uh, I don't… I love you?"

The guys started wolf whistling, and the girls awed. Except for Poseidon and Athena, of course.

Annabeth's face softened. "Fine. But dry me."

Percy held his hand up to Annabeth and she dried off instantly.

Annabeth looked critically at each and every one of us, and stopped when she saw Nico. My guess is she figured out why Percy did what he did.

She sat back down next to Percy with a smirk on her face. Well, I wouldn't want to be Nico at the moment.

"Ok… well, um, Nicholas. Truth or dare." Percy asked.

Poseidon shrugged. "Dare. What's the worse you can do?"

Percy looked at Annabeth and she whispered something in his ear. "I dare you to go in _the_ closet with… Sofia."

Poseidon and Athena's mouths dropped. I couldn't hold it in. I burst out laughing. Soon, everyone was cracking up, watching the two of them stare in horror at each other.

"Fine. Let's get this over with." Athena said, through clenched teeth.

Percy, Annabeth, and a few other people who were interested, aka me, followed them into the big house. We went to the top floor, inside one of the rooms.

They shoved the two of them into the closet and shut the door behind them.

"What's so special about this closet?" I asked.

"Well, this closet is twice as small as the other rooms." Annabeth replied.

I smirked. If only I had a camera.

Athena POV

I was going to kill that insufferable son of Poseidon.

Speaking of Poseidon, I was not pleased to be standing in a small closet, _thisclose_ to him, especially after what had happened by my cabin earlier.

"So…" he said awkwardly. I could feel his breath on my face.

"What, Kelp Head?" I sighed.

He shrugged, hitting me in the face with his shoulder.

"Ow! We don't have enough space in here as it is!"

"Ok, alright. Sorry." He said.

"Of course you are." I grumbled.

"Really, I'm sorry Theena." He said softly.

I looked up and saw his eyes in the dark closet. Was he that close to me before?

If I just leaned up-

"Ok, you're done!" Annabeth said, opening the door.

I stumbled out, sure that my face was blushing red.

Poseidon followed, his face red. That just made me blush harder.

Apollo POV

When we walked back and sat down, I asked, "What'd we miss?"

Will looked at me. "Oh, Lou Ellen is with Connor, who's getting a band aid. He asked Misty if she'd ever had a boyfriend… and well, things didn't go so well. And right now, Skylar is stealing the bottles in Dionysus's secret stash of wine."

I looked over at Zeus, who's face was turning blue. I think I saw smoke coming out of his ears. "He. Has. A. Secret. Stash." he thought to the gods.

Skylar came walking back, like it was nothing. "There was only one left. He probably drank the rest." She tossed it to Percy. "Here, drink up."

Percy shrugged and put the bottle on the floor. When we all looked at him questionably, he said, "I don't want to go insane. Dionysus would kill me if I drank from his last bottle."

We nodded in acceptance.

For the rest of the game, we did random things. Percy and Annabeth had to reenact their underwater kiss, courtesy of Aphrodite, and Athena had to sit in Poseidon's lap, which they both turned fire engine red at. It was actually quite funny.

Before I knew it, it was already 10 PM.

Demeter got up. "Guys, maybe we should start heading back, it's getting pretty late."

Ares groaned. "Come on, Kristin. Chill out a little, jeez!"

I smiled. "Yea, are you always this big of a buzz kill?"

She looked furious for a second, but then smiled. She pretended to think for a moment. "No, not always. I mean, would a buzz kill do this?"

She grabbed the collar of Hermes's shirt, and crashed her lips onto his for a few seconds. It was so silent, you could hear the crackling of the fire.

All the gods' mouths were wide open, staring in shock at the two of them.

The silence was broken by one of Hermes's sons, Travis, whistling and saying, "Yea Blake! Get some!"

Katie slapped him lightly on the arm, even though she was slightly smiling too.

Demeter pulled away and smirked at the rest of us. "Now if the rest of you _demigods_ would like to get eaten by harpies, that's fine with me. But I'd rather not, so bye. I'll see you tomorrow, or maybe I won't. Who cares?"

She walked away towards the direction of the cabins, and we turned to Hermes.

He still looked dazed, to which Aphrodite cooed at. After he finally snapped out of it and realized what had happened, he turned bright red, almost like how Poseidon and Athena had looked before.

"I uh, I… um… I don't, uh, I gotta go." He stuttered before sprinting away towards the cabin area.

The rest of us started smiling and smirking at him. After saying goodbye, everyone else walked back to their cabins or to the big house to get some sleep.

I mean, who wanted to die from a harpy attack? Not very heroic, is it?

**AN: For the Poseidon and Athena scene by the cabin, if anyone has seen the movie Sorority Wars, it's supposed to be like when Katie and Beau are at the foam-al right before the girl throws up in the pool. So which character would you like next? And anything you want to happen? Well, I'm not too sure if the truth or dare part was that good. But thanks to all of you that submitted a dare, aka SephCurrentDaughterofPoseido n, Athena grl huntress, hpfandunoit, Sunleaves17, and Read-Write-Love1812. Love ya!**

**~Nessa**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Thank you guys so much for all the reviews! I'm so sorry for the long wait, I've been really busy with school and volleyball!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO**

**Aphrodite - Deenie Perister**

**Athena - Sofia Panolia**

**Artemis - Misty Velosa**

**Hera - Amelia Agelada**

**Demeter - Kristin Sitaria**

**Ares - Noah Kapros**

**Hephaestus - Mason Amoni**

**Hermes - Blake Kleftis**

**Zeus - Shane Aetos**

**Poseidon - Nicholas Trian**

**Hades - Diego Skotadi**

**Apollo - Aiden Kyrarma**

Annabeth POV

I woke up at 6:30 AM. I'd forgotten to turn my alarm clock off the night before after the bonfire. There was no need to wake up so early. But now I couldn't go back to sleep since I'd already woken up, that was just how I was.

I decided to let my siblings sleep. After a quick shower, I put on my camp shirt and shorts.

Walking out of my cabin, I looked over to the new cabin that we'd just finished building. Before, all of the unclaimed demigods stayed in the Hermes cabin. But soon, the gods began to realize how important each and every demigod was to camp. So using all of their individual powers, we came up with a cabin for all the unclaimed demigods. It had a little piece of each god. It had a little fountain from Poseidon, a bookshelf and desk from Athena, etc.

The whole camp seemed to be sleeping. There was a sense of peace and quiet that you could almost never find here. Nobody would be awake. I went to the Big House to talk to Chiron.

When I walked in, I saw him talking to Misty, Amelia, Shane, Nicolas, Diego, and Sofia. I hadn't even noticed she wasn't in the cabin.

"Chiron. What's going on?" I asked.

"Oh." He looked surprised that I was here. "Hello Annabeth. We were just discussing these five demigods moving into the guest cabin." He replied.

"Why?" I asked suspiciously. Where had they been living before? And if I recalled correctly, they hadn't been at lunch or dinner yesterday either…

Chiron looked uncomfortable, and the six of them looked worried, as if they didn't know what to say or else they'd be caught. "Um, their parent requires it…" he seemed to be choosing his words carefully.

I wasn't ready to drop it, but I pretended I was convinced. "Ok then. Uh, we're still having Capture the Flag tomorrow, right?" I asked.

"Yes, I'll determine which teams the demigods will be on after." He said.

I got the vibe that they wanted me to leave. "Ok, well, bye." I said, before walking out.

I went to the dock and dipped my feet in the water. I had to think, and I always seemed to do it best here.

I hadn't gotten any dream messages from my mom or Aphrodite ever since the new demigods showed up. Most would think of it as a coincidence, but there were no coincidences in the life of a demigod.

I laid back on the dock and looked up at the clouds. There was one shaped like a dove.

Wait.

Dove was peristéri in Greek. Almost like Deenie's last name. And she was a daughter of Aphrodite, and Aphrodite's symbol was a dove. After going over all of them who had come to camp that one day, I groaned.

How could I have not realized this before?

I got up and walked over to the pavilion, where the six of them were.

"Hey Sofia. Can I talk to you for a moment?" I asked politely.

"Um, yea, sure Annabeth." She sounded nervous, but followed me.

When we were out of earshot from the others, I seethed. "What the Hades!?"

She furrowed her eyebrows at me. "Wha-"

"Oh I'm sorry." I cut her off. "Shouldn't I be saying what the Diego!?"

Her eyes widened as she came to the conclusion that I knew. "Annabeth…"

"Yes." I answered calmly.

"Look, you weren't supposed to find out, at least not like this." She said. "I'm sorry."

I sighed. "It's fine. Just a little bit shocking, you know?"

"Yes, I know." She sighed.

We stood there in silence for a few moments. This definitely explained her and Poseidon's reactions to me and Percy…

"Wait. Does this mean… yesterday… you and _Poseidon_…" I said, with a horrified expression on my face.

She flushed and nodded, looking at the floor.

"And-and Demeter and _Hermes_?"

She nodded once again.

"Oh gods, I'm going to have a headache. And your children don't even get headaches." I groaned.

She laughed uncomfortably. "So, yes. We would appreciate it if you wouldn't say anything to anyone…"

"Not even Percy?" I asked. She seriously couldn't expect me to keep this a secret from my boyfriend.

Athena sighed. "You can tell him, but nobody else! And I'm only doing this so Aphrodite won't have my head!"

"Thank you, mother!" I smiled and ran off towards the Poseidon cabin.

I opened the door without knocking and walked over to Percy's bed. I sat next to his sleeping figure and brushed his hair out of his face.

He stirred and opened his eyes. "Uhhh… what's up Wise Girl?" he asked, his words still slurred from his sleepyness.

I laughed freeheartedly. "Come on Seaweed Brain. There's a lot I need to tell you."

Percy actually took the news well. He laughed when I told him about our parents' reactions, and stared at me wide eyed when I told him about Demeter and Hermes.

Afterwards, we decided to skip the brunch that they had for all the late wakers. Instead, we went to the dock again and just talked for the rest of the day.

All we knew for sure was that our lives just got a whole heck of a lot more complicated.

After a few hours, we went to go ask Chiron about the Capture the Flag teams.

"Well, I'm going to announce them at breakfast tomorrow, but since you're her now, I'll just tell you." He said. "The blue team will be Athena, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hebe, Tyche, Hypnos, and then Hera will also be a part of that. The red team will be Ares, Zeus, Demeter, Hermes, Dionysus, Iris, Hecate, Nemesis, Nike, and also Artemis."

We nodded. "Thanks Chiron!" I said cheerfully. We'd have seven gods on our side, two of them from the Big Three.

This was gonna be good.

**AN: Any preferences on who should win? It's all up to you! Love ya!**

**~Nessa**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Thank you all so much for the reviews! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO**

**Aphrodite - Deenie Perister**

**Athena - Sofia Panolia**

**Artemis - Misty Velosa**

**Hera - Amelia Agelada**

**Demeter - Kristin Sitaria**

**Ares - Noah Kapros**

**Hephaestus - Mason Amoni**

**Hermes - Blake Kleftis**

**Zeus - Shane Aetos**

**Poseidon - Nicholas Trian**

**Hades - Diego Skotadi**

**Apollo - Aiden Kyrarma**

Hermes POV

The Fates were not on my side.

Capture the Flag was going to be tomorrow night, and Demeter was on my team.

I'd been avoiding her ever since the incident at the bonfire.

That didn't do much though. I couldn't get away from it. Aphrodite kept throwing me smiles and smirks every time she saw me. The endless teasing would never stop. From her, Apollo, Dionysus, Hades, and Ares. The rest of them were shocked, but they really didn't care.

But I _did not_ like Demeter… right?

Wow, this was frustrating.

I walked over to the pavilion for a late brunch. They'd done that instead of breakfast since everyone had woken up late from the bonfire.

When I walked in, the first thing I saw was Demeter brushing her hair out of her face. It was so beautiful… Did I just think that?

I sighed, and of course my timing was perfect, since Aphrodite walked past me at that exact moment. "Awww, that is _so_ sweet!"

I groaned. "It isn't what you think, Deenie."

She only winked in response. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me."

In other words, she would only tell her cabin, who would then proceed to tell the entire camp. How wonderful.

Despite the embarrassment flowing through my veins, I was starved. It would take 10 meals of mortal food to compare to a bite of ambrosia. I filled up my plate with a mountain of bagels, fruit, and more food.

As I got to the table, I caught the end of Travis and Connor's conversation. Other than me, it was just the two of them at the table so far.

I wasn't sure if I'd heard him right, but the last thing Travis had said was, "love Katie." He had a somewhat sad, somewhat confused, somewhat frustrated look on his face, but it immediately went away when I sat down.

I really hoped there was another Katie in camp other than Demeter's daughter.

"So what about Katie?" I asked.

His eyes widened, and he tried to maintain his poker face. "Uh… nothing. Just about the awesome prank we're going to pull on her, and how mad she's going to be." He plastered on a fake smile.

I raised an eyebrow. "And where does love come in with that?"

He just had to be drinking something when I said that. Travis did a spit take over Connor, who yelped and jumped up. "Come on dude!" he whined. Connor grabbed his last muffin and walked out of the pavilion to change.

I laughed. "That was classic."

Travis gave a weak nervous laugh in response. "Yea… I should go, um, check on Connor." Before I had the chance to say anything, he sprinted in the opposite direction of where Connor had gone, which happened to be the strawberry fields.

"All alone, are we?" Aphrodite said, sliding in across from me at the picnic table.

I groaned. "Go back to your table."

"I'm here to help you, really. As surprising as it may sound, I haven't told my cabin about what I saw a while ago." She said, smiling bigger with every word.

"You didn't see anything. It wasn't because of Kristin." I replied, getting annoyed. Mainly with myself though, since I didn't know whether that was the truth or not.

She rolled her eyes. "Stop trying to argue with me. I'm the lov- I'm the _daughter_ of the love goddess, after all."

I stood up. "Well I don't need your help. Just leave me alone from now."

I stormed out of the pavilion, and to the cabins. I really wish I hadn't done that.

Demeter and Apollo were standing outside of his cabin. Apollo was smirking as Demeter blushed. He brushed her hair out of her face, and said something to her that I couldn't hear. She blushed even harder.

I couldn't look at this. I went inside my cabin, and sulked on the couch.

I still didn't want to go to Aphrodite for help though. She would turn this into a whole soap opera, and play with our feelings until we crashed. Then she would make us fall in love and build us back up, only to make us crash again.

Even she didn't have a real relationship. She constantly cheated on her husband with his brother. She could turn the families, friends, and the world against each other for a simple relationship.

I needed help. From someone who wouldn't destroy everything.

Just then, my daughter Skylar walked into the cabin.

"Hey Blake, what's up? You looked sad, but pissed at the same time." She said, walking to her bunk and getting her laptop out. Hephaestus had created a special model that didn't attract monsters.

"Uh… it's nothing, really." I replied.

She looked at me. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the bonfire incident yesterday, and the fact that Kristin and Aiden are talking out there, would it?"

"N-no. Of course not." I said. It wasn't very convincing though. Skylar saw right through it.

"You're going to have to do better than that." She smirked.

"Ok. You got me. I admit it, I'm am absolutely in _love_ with Kristin." I said, trying to add an edge of sarcasm in my voice.

"That's still not working." She said, as I groaned.

I glanced around, and saw that nobody else was in the cabin. "Fine. Well… I'm going to need your help."

She shut her laptop and looked at me. Smiling, she said, "I'm guessing that it's time for Operation Twinkie."

**AN: So in case you haven't figured it out, I LOVE Tratie. There will prob be a lot of it in the future. Capture the Flag will be in the chapter after the next. I'm planning on doing some Thalico in the next chapter. Love ya!**

**~Nessa**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Oh my gods, 203 reviews in only ten chapters! Thank you guys so much!**

**Aphrodite - Deenie Perister**

**Athena - Sofia Panolia**

**Artemis - Misty Velosa**

**Hera - Amelia Agelada**

**Demeter - Kristin Sitaria**

**Ares - Noah Kapros**

**Hephaestus - Mason Amoni**

**Hermes - Blake Kleftis**

**Zeus - Shane Aetos**

**Poseidon - Nicholas Trian**

**Hades - Diego Skotadi**

**Apollo - Aiden Kyrarma**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO**

Nico POV

Watching Skylar run out of her cabin clutching Blake's arm, I groaned. Nothing good could come out of an excited child of Hermes.

I turned away from the window and looked around my cabin. Weapons shoved in a cabinet, clothes shoved in a closet, wrappers shoved under my bed. Looks like I'd do well in cabin inspections.

I sudden knock on the door made me jump. Shaking my head, I went to go and open it.

Thalia was standing outside picking at her chipping black nail polish. She looked up and her electric blue eyes met my deathly black ones. She cracked a smile. "Hey Death Breath. Mind if I come in?" she asked teasingly.

"Of course not, Pinecone Face." I replied in the same tone.

She walked inside and crashed on the couch, putting her feet up.

"Make yourself at home." I muttered sarcastically.

She looked at me. I could tell that she'd heard me, but ignored it. "I ran into Annie on the way here. Looks like we're on opposite teams for Capture the Flag." She said, grinning.

"Well let me apologize in advance for having to cream you later." I said nonchalantly.

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh, is that what you think is going to happen?"

"Well… yeah, pretty much." I nodded.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Care to make a bet?"

"Bring it on Grace." I replied.

Her eyes narrowed. Maybe I shouldn't have used her last name… She wouldn't make the bet easy. She might have taken some pity on me before, but now… not so much.

She stormed over to my bookshelf, yes, I have a bookshelf, and got the largest one there was, our prank book. She came back to me and dropped the book in my hands. "You first." She said, gritting her teeth.

It was really heavy, but I managed to flip through the pages. I found the perfect one.

I handed it over to her and she looked through it before setting it on the couch.

"Ok, number 415." She said smugly. I gulped. That meant that if I lost, I would have to jump off a cliff into the ocean… Zeus and Poseidon were going to kill me.

"You get 117" I said shakily, still nervous about possibly dying soon.

Her eyes widened. "Oh gods… Makeover, Aphrodite cabin, the entire day…?"

I nodded.

Her eyes hardened. "Fine. It's a bet."

I stuck out my hand to shake on it. She looked at it and walked away.

I rolled my eyes. Typical Thals.

Thalia POV

I was going to beat Nico if it was the last thing I ever did.

First, I had to know who the Hades was on my team. Luckily Annabeth and Percy were sitting on one of the benches surrounding the cabins.

I went and sat in between them, ruining their "moment."

"Thanks Thalia. What do you need?" Percy said, somewhat masking his annoyance.

"I need to know who is on my team for Capture the Flag… now."

The look in my eyes gave the reason away to Annabeth and she told me.

"Thanks!" I said, running towards the forest. Without even realizing it, I ended up at _the tree_.

After the Giant War, Nico had decided that he was going to help me overcome my fear of heights. Apparently, the best way to do that was to actually go to a high place and try from there. He'd shadow traveled me to the top of the tree that I was at right now and then shadow traveled to the bottom. I was supposed to climb down by myself and show myself there was nothing to be afraid of. But instead, on the first try, I fell. Nico caught me at the bottom, of course, but we still both agreed never to do that again.

Now I was back at the tree.

I sat down and leaned on the trunk. Trying to shake the memories about Nico out of my head, I thought about Capture the Flag.

My team was Ares, Demeter, Hermes, Dionysus, Iris, Hecate, Nemesis, Nike, and the new kids Shane and Misty. I could work with that.

I jumped up and walked back towards camp. The first person I saw was Misty. "Hey!" I said, running up to her.

"Thalia! Hello, how's your day been?" She asked.

"Pretty good! Hey, I need a favor. Could you go get Clarisse, Katie, Travis and Connor, Shane, and the other counselors of the Dionysus, Iris, Hecate, Nemesis, and Nike cabins and meet me in my cabin?"

She nodded and left.

20 minutes later, we were all in the Zeus cabin. They all sat on the couches in the living room area, and I stood in front of them. "Ok, so I've called you all here for a very important reason: Capture the Flag."

Clarisse rolled her eyes, but nodded. "I really don't care about what bet you and Nico made this time, but we better win. Ares has lost to Athena three times in a row now, and we're not going to give them a fourth."

"Wha… How? Nevermind." How did she know about the bet? "But we need an impeccable battle strategy if we're going to win. The blue team has two of the Big Three cabins, and Athena. They're not going to go down without a fight. You can guarantee that their plan is going to be perfect." I said.

Katie smirked "So we're just going to need a better one."

**AN: It's short, I know. But I'll try to update soon, since I'm FINALLY on winter break now :) So, who's gonna win the bet? Nico (blue team) or Thalia (red team)?**

**~Nessa**


	12. Chapter 12

**Aphrodite - Deenie Perister**

**Athena - Sofia Panolia**

**Artemis - Misty Velosa**

**Hera - Amelia Agelada**

**Demeter - Kristin Sitaria**

**Ares - Noah Kapros**

**Hephaestus - Mason Amoni**

**Hermes - Blake Kleftis**

**Zeus - Shane Aetos**

**Poseidon - Nicholas Trian**

**Hades - Diego Skotadi**

**Apollo - Aiden Kyrarma**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO**

Katie POV

I crouched down in the bushes, waiting for Chiron to blow the conch, signaling the start of the game. I heard rustling near me and I inwardly sighed. Of course that would be my luck.

_*flashback*_

"_You can guarantee that their plan is going to be perfect." Thalia said._

_I smirked. "So we're just going to need a better one."_

"_Exactly." Thalia smiled at me. "Now everyone pick a partner. Besides a select few of you, you're going to be in groups of two, scattered in the forest, ready to attack the other team."_

_I looked at Kristin, and she smiled at me. I smiled back and went to go sit next to her. Thalia would probably station us near the borders, right by the strawberry fields. _

_Looking around, I saw that everyone had picked a partner. Travis had gone with Ryan, a son of Dionysus. I looked at Kristin and saw that she was staring at Blake, who was sitting next to Misty. I coughed slightly, and she tore her eyes away from them._

"_Ok, this is good." Thalia approved. "Except… Misty, can you go with Ryan? And Kristin, you'll be with Blake. And Travis with Katie."_

_I stared at her, not comprehending what she had just said. After repeating it three more times in my head, I realized there was only one thing that she could have meant. My partner would be Travis._

_I looked over at him to find him already looking at me. He smiled slightly and winked. I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help but smile a bit too._

_*end flashback*_

Now thinking back to it, I realize how dumb that had been. The entire time we were walking over here, Travis kept bugging me, pestering me with lame jokes. After a while, he finally took a hint and shut up. But he immediately started it up again as soon as we got to our little base in the forest.

I waited for Chiron to blow the conch, but it didn't happen for a while, so I sat down and leaned against the trunk of a tree. Travis sat next to me, and I stiffened a bit, but relaxed a second later. Hopefully he didn't notice.

It was silent mostly, but I could hear the wind rustling through the trees, and the distant yelling of other campers. I could feel Travis's arm pressed up against mine, and the weird thing was, I didn't mind that much.

I heard him breathe in, like he was working up the courage to say something and break the silence, but before he could, the conch blew, and I stood up. I heard him breathe out in defeat.

For a second, I was tempted to look back at him and listen to whatever it was he had to say, but I could already hear the footsteps of our teammates running towards the other side.

I crouched down and put my hand on the hilt of my sword, ready to take it out at a second's notice.

"We should stay hidden and surprise attack anyone that comes, ok?" I said, my voice just above a whisper.

I didn't hear him say anything in response. I turned my head to see where he was and my lips brushed softly against his.

My eyes widened and his did the same. I could feel my face becoming hot. I hadn't expected him to be right _there_.

"Um… Sorry?" I said, unsure of what to do.

His turquoise blue eyes just continued to stare into mine as his mouth curved up into a small smile.

Nico POV

I rushed through the forest, looking for the flag. Unfortunately for me, Chiron forbade me from shadow traveling during the game, saying that it made the game unfair. But I still could do my other child-of-Hades stuff.

Percy and Annabeth had created a pretty basic plan. There would be a diversion group going around from the right and left, and then a small group of people would cut through the middle of the battle and grab the flag.

I was chosen to be one of the people that would actually get the flag. I traveled a bit ahead of the others as a scout. The plan was fullproof… Or so I thought.

I could see the flag, and saw that it was being guarded by only a few people. They didn't happen to be the strongest fighters.

I smiled smugly and took a step forward, thinking this would be simple and easy. I felt a pressure around my ankle, and I was pulled upwards. Then the world went weird. Up was down, and down was up. It didn't take a genius to realize the handywork of the Hermes cabin and their traps.

I saw a girl jump down from a tree and land perfectly on the bare ground. She smirked and walked towards me.

"Still apologizing now?" asked Thalia.

Katie POV

"It's fine, Kit Kat." Travis said softly.

He took my hand in his, and I looked at him. Here was the boy I had thought I hated, acting like he actually liked me, and all I could do was look at him.

But I couldn't help it, he was so _cute_.

There was some rustling next to us and I tore my eyes away from his to look at who it was. A few daughters of Aphrodite emerged from the bushes, complaining about their hair and clothes, when they caught a glimpse of me and Travis. I let go of his hand when they started to squeal. We both simultaneously rolled our eyes.

After a while, they walked back towards their side of the creek, gossiping about some people from the Ares cabin.

There was more rustling, but this time, a group of Hephaestus kids came out.

Travis and I jumped up and got out our weapons. Two of them came at me, swords raised. I jump kicked one and knocked him out with the hilt of my sword, and pushed another into a tree, knocking him out as well.

When I looked over at Travis, I saw he wasn't doing as good. One of the kids was knocked out, but the others hurried past Travis and towards the flag.

As for Travis, he was on the ground, with a large gash across his stomach.

I ran to him and kneeled down by him. My hands were shaking as I tried to take off his armor. He winced and I started panicking even more.

His shirt was soaked with blood in the front, around his wound. I eased off his shirt to look at the cut (not at his abs, okay!).

It was about a foot long, and looked to be pretty deep. I rolled his shirt up and pressed it on the wound.

Then I waited for help to come…

Nico POV

"Apologizing for what?" I asked, honestly confused.

She rolled her eyes, as if expecting this response. "Earlier, you were apologizing for having to beat me in the game, but doesn't look that way now, does it?"

Taking a chance, I threw my knife up in the air, towards the rope that was holding onto my ankle. Thankfully, it hit the mark, and dropped me. I managed to do a flip in the air, so I landed smoothly on my feet.

I grabbed my knife as it was coming down and brought it around behind her neck. I also unsheathed my sword and pointed the tip at her neck (like the end of the PJO movie with Percabeth). "I don't know how you see it, but it still looks that way to me." I said.

She raised an eyebrow. "You're going to have to do better than that to get me to cave."

Looking into her eyes, I was reminded of all the memories I had with Thalia, the good ones. That just made what I did next easier.

I dropped my weapons, put my hands on her waist, leaned forward, and kissed her.

**AN: Merry Christmas! There's still about half an hour left of Christmas where I am. I think my entire winter break has pretty much just been sleeping and Netflix :P Anyways, I'd love it if you'd leave a review! Happy Holidays!**

**~Skylar**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO**

**Aphrodite - Deenie Perister**

**Athena - Sofia Panolia**

**Artemis - Misty Velosa**

**Hera - Amelia Agelada**

**Demeter - Kristin Sitaria**

**Ares - Noah Kapros**

**Hephaestus - Mason Amoni**

**Hermes - Blake Kleftis**

**Zeus - Shane Aetos**

**Poseidon - Nicholas Trian**

**Hades - Diego Skotadi**

**Apollo - Aiden Kyrarma**

Travis POV

My eyes opened, and I squinted, adjusting to the bright light of the infirmary. I tried to sit up, but winced at the pain in my abdomen. I looked to see it was bandaged up.

There was a warm feeling in my hand and when I looked at where it was coming from, I almost jumped from shock. _Katie Gardner_ was sitting in a chair next to my bed, with her feet propped up on the foot of the bed and her hand clutching mine.

Her eyes were closed, and she looked like a mess. But that made her look even more gorgeous to me. Gods, this girl had me going crazy.

Just as though she could feel my eyes on her, her eyes fluttered open. She looked around at the empty infirmary, and then her eyes fell upon me.

Her eyes brightened. "Travis!" she laughed, falling onto me and hugging the life out of me. "Gods, you're ok!"

I laughed, although a small part of me was certain this was a dream. I mean, as much as I'd love this to happen in real life, there was a very slim chance that it actually would. "You can't get rid of me that easily, Kates."

She smiled shyly. "I wouldn't want to…"

I smiled back at her, and brushed a piece of her hair back behind her ear. "So what happened?" I asked. "How'd I end up in here?"

She got up and poured out a pitcher of nectar, and handed me a cup of it. I took it from her and gulped it down. I felt strong enough to stand up after, so I did, with Katie standing right in front of me.

"Capture the Flag," she responded, "some Hephaestus campers gave you a nasty cut and knocked you out. Chiron and an Apollo camper showed up a little bit later, and took you to the infirmary. If I'm correct, the game should still be going on right now; you got knocked out at the very beginning." She glanced over at the clock.

A small part of me was happy- no, _thrilled-_ that she had stayed here with me, but a part of me was also wondering why. "So… how'd _you_ end up in here?" I voiced my thoughts.

She let go of my hand, and I immediately missed the warmth of it. Her fingers began fidgeting, and she kept looking at them… and anywhere that wasn't me. "You were my partner, so I just stayed here to make sure you were alright." She said after a few seconds, long enough for me to know she had carefully chosen the words that she'd said, not wanting to accidently say anything else. I wasn't a son of Hermes for nothing.

"Ok. So what's the _real_ reason you're here?" I asked, stepping closer to her.

She stayed silent, biting her lip and looking at me. She looked like she _really_ didn't want to answer that question.

I grabbed her hand again, and lifted her chin up with my finger. "Katie… trust me." I said softly, putting every ounce of emotion I had for this girl in my words. She wasn't just pretty, or smart, or nice. She was all of those things, and I loved that about her. I loved that she'd rather wear jeans and sneakers than makeup and heels. I loved that she'd rather go gardening than shopping. I loved that she could probably take me if she wanted to, but she still didn't anyways. I loved her, and there was no way I could ever stop.

She stared up at me, her eyes scanning mine. I could see every fleck of green in her eyes, every emotion. I could feel her warm breath on my face. She bit her lip in hesitation, before smiling slightly and leaning forward and placing her lips on mine. The kiss was like the other one, with the same amount of fireworks exploding through me, and the same shock running up my spine. But this time, neither one of us pulled back.

Thalia POV

To say I was shocked would have been a major understatement.

My eyes were wide open, and just as I was about to close them and actually kiss Nico back, he pulled away. He stared into my eyes and I caught an emotion in them, one I couldn't exactly identify right away, but one that I thought I'd seen before. Before I could do anything though, he averted his eyes from looking anywhere near me and slipped back into the darkness.

I sat down and leaned back against a tree, ignoring the sounds of people yelling quickly coming closer. I brought my fingers up to my lips and sighed. That had been my first kiss. That was the first time I'd ever felt anything even remotely close to love since I left the hunt.

Thinking about all of this just made me realize how much easier things were when I was in the hunt. There were no boys, no feelings, none of the stuff normal teenage girls, even demigods, had to deal with. But to be honest, I wouldn't go back if I had the choice. Camp Half Blood was my home. This was where I belonged.

I hadn't joined the hunt _only_ to avoid being the prophecy child, there were many other reasons I couldn't quite explain. Maybe it was so I could avoid having to deal with this, the feelings, the love, the hurt. After Luke, I was just broken. Imagine how you would feel if you woke up after being a tree for seven years, and the guy you had always trusted, the one who'd said he'd never betray you, was suddenly your enemy.

The truth was, if I had ended up being the prophecy child, I didn't know if my friends would still be here today. Luke always had some sort of control over me. It was always something about him. Some sort of power. I didn't know what he could've made me do, with one lie, with one look. What scared me was I felt that sort of power again, recently, when I was with Nico.

I had never really been close with him, but after I had gotten back to camp, and Percy and Annabeth and a lot of my other friends went back to school in the mortal world, Nico and I had just… clicked, in lack of a better term. We were both into the same style, the same music, and not to mention half the camp thought of us as mega powerful, being the daughter and son of Zeus and Hades.

That proved to somewhat put a dent in our friendship, our constant competition. It was normally funny and casual, more of a show for the other campers, but for some things, the competition would turn into a war. Somehow, we had survived all of that, and we'd managed to actually become friends in the past year.

And somewhere, in that time period, I'd actually started to want to become more.

**AN: Did anyone else think this chapter was just… fluffy? I did. I like it, but I also wonder if it was a little too much… Was it? Merp, thanks for the reviews, I'll try to update soon.**

**~I think you know who I am by now**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Um… hi? I'm sure you'll be, uh… **_**glad**_** to know I'm still alive, and interested in continuing the story. Hope this chapter makes up for the wait.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO**

**Aphrodite - Deenie Perister**

**Athena - Sofia Panolia**

**Artemis - Misty Velosa**

**Hera - Amelia Agelada**

**Demeter - Kristin Sitaria**

**Ares - Noah Kapros**

**Hephaestus - Mason Amoni**

**Hermes - Blake Kleftis**

**Zeus - Shane Aetos**

**Poseidon - Nicholas Trian**

**Hades - Diego Skotadi**

**Apollo - Aiden Kyrarma**

Zeus POV

"I said no, Amelia!" I yelled.

She sighed. "Come on Shane, it's the perfect opportunity."

"Look, I'm not going to skip Capture the Flag just to go on some walk with you!" I said. Lowering my voice, I added, "_I'm_ the king of the gods, you have to listen to _me_."

She fell silent and took a small step back. If my full attention hadn't been on her, even if the attention was powered by anger, I wouldn't have noticed. In a small voice, she said, "And how do you think that makes me feel? I do everything you ask for, anything I can to make you happy, and what do I get? Nothing. You cheat on me constantly, and I can't do anything about it; I'm the damn goddess of _marriage_. You don't _ever_ ask me how my day was, or try to do anything nice for me. All I asked was that we skip the demigod game to go for a walk, and you explode. Sometimes I wonder if you even care at all." And with that, she blinked back a few tears and ran off towards the woods.

I sighed. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. Oh, what did I do?

Leo POV

It was a battlefield out here.

Of course, I wasn't a part of the action yet. Reyna said that if I had been, the forest would've burned down by now. I don't think she was joking.

We were crouching down in some bushes. The flag was in our sight and we were waiting for the perfect moment to get it.

My ADHD was starting to get the better of me, as I kept picking leaves off the bush and burning them to a crisp just with the warmth of my hands.

"For the last time, shut up!" Reyna whispered, looking at me with a glare.

"Sorry… I'm a demigod, what do you expect?" I muttered under my breath.

She ignored me, though I could tell she had heard, and suddenly grabbed my wrist. "Ok, it's time. Just-"

I didn't even care. I jumped up and ran out into the fight, my sword in my hand.

"-wait for my signal!" Reyna finished, yelling after me. I could practically feel her rolling her eyes and huffing in annoyance behind me as she ran to most likely save my ass.

"Sorry!" I called back.

I didn't have much time to focus on that though. Defenders from the other team immediately noticed me and sent people after me. Three to one. I got this.

They all charged forward and slashed and jabbed their swords at me. I ducked, narrowly missing getting a new haircut, and jumped, avoiding only having one foot the rest of my life. I concentrated on the celestial bronze of one of the fighter's swords and they immediately dropped it and clutched their hand, as it was now burning hot.

I skillfully tripped another guard and they hit their head on a rock on the way down. As I spun around looking for the last person, all I saw was the hilt of a sword before feeling a sharp pain in my head and sinking to the ground.

Quickly, before I blacked out, I stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled out a crumbled ambrosia square and stuffed it in my mouth. I always carried an extra piece because, as Reyna said, you never know with me.

I got up and somehow didn't make a scene, causing people to not see me. The flag was at the top of Zeus's Fist. I shot out my hands, fire hovering in thin air moving towards the pole of the flag. If I burned it in the correct spot, it would fall right into my hands.

Just as the fire was about to reach it, I heard a terrible noise: Reyna's scream. In shock, the fire splayed and hit the flag. Oh gods, I just burned it into ashes. The very slight power from the remains of the flag was shooting out the fire energy to the rest of the forest, burning the trees and whatever else there was.

As the nymphs were frantically trying to put out the fire, and the campers were running around avoiding it, I caught Reyna's eye from the other end of the clearing. There was a camper passed out next to her, and judging by the way she was holding her sword, she probably knocked him out using the hilt of it. Her cheek had a cut and it was bleeding profusely.

I held up the ashes, and I could swear I saw something flash in her eyes, a look of pride, but at the same time, humorous disbelief at what I'd managed to screw up… again. She shook her head, no doubt silently laughing to herself at my idiocy, but looked back at me again and nodded.

Using my senses, I willed all of the ashes from the flag to gather in my hand, and discreetly, trying not to attract too much attention, started walking through the fire to the boundary line. In the last few feet, I broke out into a jog.

A few campers from the other team near me noticed me and cried out for back up, but it was too late. I crossed the boundary line and as I did, the ashes reformed into the flag, and changed colors.

A huge wave of water suddenly fell upon the water and doused the fire. I heard Chiron's voice call out from somewhere, "Blue team wins!" Our team started cheering and jumping around congratulating each other, as the red team walked back to their cabins grumbling.

"Well I suppose you get to gloat now." I turned around to see Reyna walking towards me, and I smiled. Her hair was sopping wet and she seemed to be trying to keep a frown on her face, but I saw right through it.

"It would only be right, but when do I ever follow the rules?" I said, dropping the flag. I walked over to her and threw an arm around her. As we walked back to the cabins, I swear I could almost see a smile coming onto Reyna's face.

Hera POV

I sat on the edge of a cliff, with my arms hugging my knees tightly. My eyes were stinging and I sighed. When Zeus had decided to make us mortal, I hadn't imagined that he would make us feel regular mortal feelings too. They were absolutely horrific.

I didn't know how long I'd been sitting here, contemplating over my relationship with my husband, staring at the ocean, as the cold wind blew against me. All I knew was that a while later, after my tears had finally dried up, and my sorrow was starting to become replaced by anger, I heard a twig snap.

I quickly stood up and whipped around to face… Zeus. The anger was melting away and the sorrow was starting to come back. I immediately averted my eyes and faced my feet, kicking at tiny rocks on the ground.

"Um, your team won." he said, attempting to smile.

I didn't respond. I only looked up at him for a moment before looking back down.

He sighed. "We need to talk." he said, in a tone which I'd heard before. He wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Fine." I responded evenly.

He stayed silent for a few moments and I raised my eyebrows. He hesitated for another moment or two before walking up to me, stopping about a foot away. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.

"What do you think?" I said. Was he really that stupid?

His face hardened. "I don't know, alright? I don't know what's going through your head because you never _tell_ me. You expect me to just know what the problem is and to fix it. But I'll never know if you don't speak up and tell me what you're feeling."

"I'm feeling hurt!" I yelled. Then softer, I said, "I'm feeling ignored, and useless, and unloved. I'm not a _second _freaking _choice_. I'm not just the person you can go to when others aren't paying attention. You never even glance at me anymore. What happened to that love that we had 5000 years ago? Now all our relationship is is you, the womanizer, and me, the scornful wife. I've taken so much of my anger with you out on others and now they despise me. I may not like demigods, because they are many times the product of infidelity, but there isn't need for me to torture them. That is what _you_ make me do. This is who _you_ turn me into… and I hate it."

Leo POV

I walked Reyna over to the Bellona cabin. When we got there, she turned to face me and a shy smile came upon her face.

"Thanks." she said softly, in a totally un-Reyna-like way.

"No problem, Princess." I said, smiling at her.

She rolled her eyes at me but didn't say anything.

I stood there awkwardly for a moment, deciding what I should do. Just leave? Hug her? For gods sake, a part of me was even thinking of kissing her.

She bit her lip, and then opened her mouth to say something when my half brother, Jake, called my name. "Leo! Come on, the harpies have a strict curfew, even after Capture the Flag."

"Alright, alright. I'll be right there." I called back.

He nodded and walked into the cabin.

I turned back to face Reyna. "So, um… bye." I said uncertainly.

Her face changed into her mask expression, one that she used whenever she didn't want anyone to know what she was feeling. It was a mix of a look of indifference, a sign that she was bored, and the look that you would give two people who were fighting that would say, "here we go again…"

"Bye." she replied evenly, before walking into her cabin and shutting the door.

I silently walked back to my cabin thinking about what had just happened. Was she upset? Did she care? Should I have tried something different?

I sighed and finally went to sleep thinking that this would all just be easier if Reyna was a machine.

Hera POV

The next morning, after breakfast, a few of the demigods and Olympians decided to sit near Thalia's tree and how do they say it, "chill?"

Last night, after my rant, Zeus had given me a huge speech about how sorry he was and how much he loved me, and for once, I actually believed him. He walked me back to my cabin in the moonlight and kissed me goodnight. I hadn't gotten much sleep after that, I was much too giddy with excitement. Curse you mortal feelings.

Now we were all sitting and talking on and on aimlessly about random things, from the newest music to the latest gossip to the best battle techniques. It was quite entertaining actually.

Piper sighed. "I wish it would snow here. That would be so cool." she said wistfully.

Nobody else did, but I saw my husband drum his fingers on his thigh for a few seconds before stopping. As soon as he did, the clouds covered up and little snowflakes began coming down.

"Jase, that's amazing!" Piper beamed at Jason.

He had a confused look on his face. "I didn't do anything. That's not one of my powers, even though I'm a child of Zeus… Thals?"

Thalia shook her head. "Nope. I'm the lightning girl over here. I'll fry you like a biscuit, but snow isn't my thing. Must have been dad."

I smiled slightly. "Yeah, must have been." I mused, glancing over at Zeus, who was already looking at me with a smile.

Reyna POV

The snow was starting to fall even harder now, forming a decent layer on the ground. Oh no, I knew what would be coming- splat! There it was. As the cold snow began to soak through the back of my now wet shirt, I looked back to find a hysterical Leo.

Of course. We were back to this. Leo being and idiot as usual and targeting none other than me. I sometimes saw the other side of Leo though, like last night. When he walked me back to my cabin, he'd actually acted like the perfect gentleman. I don't know what had happened in my head, but I was actually feeling disappointed when he hadn't kissed me. Weird, huh?

I silently stood up, and the others began to get smirks on their faces. I could see people trying to hold back their laughter as they waited in anticipation for what would be coming now. Leo kept laughing, oblivious to me walking even closer to him. When I was about a foot away, he looked at me and saw the expression on my face. Gulping, he turned and started to run away.

Not so fast. "Leo Valdez!" I yelled before taking one step and jumping on him, tackling him to the ground. "What is wrong with you?"

He turned over in the snow to face me, so that he was laying on top of me. "If I had a penny for every time I heard someone ask that about me…"

"I don't care about the fact that you'd be a millionaire right now." I said, glaring at him.

"Aw, come on, Rey. Lighten up a bit." he said playfully.

"Don't call me that." I replied, in the exact same voice as him, before returning to my previous tone. "Now get off of me."

"Alright, but just to be fair, you're the one that tackled me first…" he said, getting up and walking back to the group, not even bothering to help me.

In a split second decision, I decided that to get him to stop, I'd have to beat him at his own game. Getting up, I called, "Leo?" sweetly.

He turned around just as I threw the snowball. He had just enough time to say, "yeah?" before getting a face full of snow.

"Just to be fair, you're the one who threw the snowball at me first." I said smirking, in the same way he'd said to me before.

As I walked back to the group, he stood standing there, shocked and humored that I'd actually thrown the snowball at him. He laughed and ran up to me, and we walked the rest of the way back together, bumping shoulders playfully.

**AN: I'm pretty sure this was my longest chapter… I'm going to start focusing on the gods' lives at camp now, I realize I'm kind of drifting away from that, so sorry about that. Thank you guys so much for all the support!**

**~Skylar**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Hey? I'm alive. Wait. Why are you guys coming towards me with pitchforks? What? No. No! Ahh, help!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO**

Nico POV

I stared across the circle of our friends at Thalia. We hadn't really spoken ever since that kiss. I wanted to talk to her about it, but I didn't know how to begin. I was somewhat conflicted about my feelings towards her, and I had absolutely no clue about what she felt towards me.

"Hold up," said Thalia, interrupting my thoughts. "Why isn't Leo dead?"

I looked over and saw Leo and Reyna walking back to the rest of us. However, instead of Leo being in pain and Reyna being pissed, they were both laughing and bumping shoulders playfully. Reyna shrugged at the question. "I got him back for the snowball," she said, as if that answered all of our questions.

"And that's it?" Travis asked. "Nothing else?" He, as well as mostly everyone else, was staring at Reyna with a worried and baffled look on his face. This was not the reaction Reyna was expected to give in a situation like this. But I suspected this had more to do with _Leo_ than anything else.

"Not really, I guess. Should there have been something else?" Reyna responded, looking at us as if there was nothing out of place here. Normally, anyone who did what Leo did to her would've been sent to the infirmary for a week, not shoulder bumped as if there wasn't a care in the world.

"Oh gods, the apocalypse has started…" I muttered. Everyone nodded their heads, agreeing completely.

"Speaking of the apocalypse, shouldn't Thalia be getting a makeover right about now? You know, courtesy of the blue team's victory." Travis asked, smirking at the horrified look on Thalia's face as he said that.

"Yeah," Katie said, smiling. Now Katie was agreeing with Travis? The world really did seem like it was about to end. "Come on now. Go to the Aphrodite cabin."

Piper looked at her with sympathy. "Don't worry. You'll be able to wash it off… in a week or so. I'd come with you myself to make sure nothing terrible happens, but I'm due for a sword fighting lesson right about now. But don't worry, Nico will go with you. It _was_ him who made the bet with you in the first place."

Piper took Jason's hand and the two of them walked away to the arena together. "Yeah, I'm going to the stables. I'm pretty sure it's my turn to feed the pegasi and horses." Katie said, walking away as well, with Travis trailing behind her. One by one, the rest of them began to trickle away.

"I guess we should go now." I said to Thalia, with a straight face. I wasn't sure what to say. I wasn't very good with this whole emotions thing. I probably got it from my dad. I mean, look at him. He couldn't even ask a girl to marry him; he had to kidnap her.

She nodded and the two of us walked to the Aphrodite cabin in silence. There were literally no words spoken. I thought about what I was going to say to her when we finally did talk. By this point I did know that I liked her, possibly even loved her. But that wouldn't do any good without knowing what she felt towards me.

I knocked on the pink door and we waited outside in a bone crushing awkward silence. "Thals, we need to talk." I said finally.

She sighed, but nodded. "Alright, but-"

The door opened right then and Lacy appeared. "Ohh, I heard about your little bet! This is going to be lots of fun!" she said cheerfully, pulling Thalia inside and slamming the door shut in my face.

I sat down in one of the chairs outside and waited for her to be done. After 20 minutes of sitting there, I decided to take a nap and closed my eyes.

Artemis POV

I walked around camp, looking for the archery range, when I ran into Ryan. I didn't say a word and tried to avoid eye contact. This was clearly not what I needed right now.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked, completely ignoring or not noticing my distant mood. "I haven't talked to you since Capture the Flag. You know, now that I think about it, we didn't talk much _during_ Capture the Flag either." Now he was being inquisitive. I knew from experience, mostly from Hermes and Apollo, that he wouldn't give up until he got an answer.

I looked at him and picked my words carefully. "Yes. Well, I've been… busy lately." I said, trying to keep it vague.

"Busy with what?" he asked, not picking up on the fact that I didn't want to talk.

"Just… things." I responded, making my way around him and walking to the archery range.

"What sort of things?" he continued to ask, following me. As a response to my silence, he said, "Come on Misty, after that first day we ran into each other, I thought we had something. I've actually wanted to ask you for a while, but maybe… we could go out-"

"No," I cut him off, stopping in my tracks. "I'm sorry, I just can't." Oh, why wouldn't he stop asking questions?

"But why?" he asked again, stopping too. "Just give me that one answer. I won't be mad. Is there someone else?"

"No, it's just…" How could I explain this to him? I couldn't just come out and say I was Artemis. That would blow the gods' cover. What else was there to say? I couldn't do this because I was a maiden goddess. I had to show young girls that boys weren't everything. I had to be an example for my hunters. Wait, my hunters. That was it. "I'm joining the Hunt," I said, looking him straight in the eye.

You could tell by the look on his face that he was not expecting that answer. "Wha, um… wow. That's, that's cool."

I smiled sympathetically. I didn't want to hurt him. If it was _any_ other boy, I wouldn't have batted an eye, but he reminded me so much of Orion… "Yeah, I'm sorry. I already spoke to Lady Artemis. It's only a matter of time."

"Alright. Well, I guess I'll see you around sometime. Bye." He said, before turning around and walking off.

I walked away from him. There was nothing I could do about it. I was the maiden goddess. That was that.

Thalia POV

"Come back again!" Lacy said, as she walked me to the door. Yeah, I wouldn't come back if my life depended on it. "Now go get your man!"

"Wait, what?" I asked, but she had already shut the door in my face. I looked over on the other side of the porch and saw Nico asleep in one of the chairs. I walked over and shook his shoulder. "Nico. Nico, wake up."

His eyes opened and he groaned, still half asleep. "What? What's happening?" Then he seemed to get a real look at me, apparently waking him up fully. "Thalia. You look… wow."

I looked down. The Aphrodite cabin had given me an… "angel biker" look. I had on a white frilly sleeveless blouse, black skinny jeans, and my black combat boots, which actually looked good with the blouse. They let me keep my boots after I threatened to pull my spear on them. My hair was straightened and blown out so it wasn't spiky like usual and my nails were painted black. As for makeup, I refused to wear foundation, so they stuck with my usual thick eyeliner and added mascara, and a bit of lip gloss.

"Meh. It isn't really my style, but it's better than what I've seen them do with other people." I said, as Nico stood up. Being the all powerful, ex hunter, daughter of Zeus did have its perks. I mean, Lacy could've made me wear a skirt, or worse, a dress.

We walked in silence to the forest, but this time it was a comfortable silence, not an awkward one. Or it wasn't until our hands brushed against each others. "Sorry." we both said simultaneously.

I could feel my cheeks getting red as we sat down at the base of our tree, leaning back against it. I could feel his arm touching mine, but I refused to look in his direction. After a few minutes of saying nothing, Nico finally spoke up. "Thalia?" he said. I could feel his breath on my neck.

"Yeah?" I answered softly. This was not me; this was not how I acted. Damn. Nico was making me act like one of those lovestruck Aphrodite girls.

"Well, I guess one of us should talk, so here goes. And beware, I'm making this speech up as I go. We've been friends for a while now, and for some reason, recently that hasn't been good enough for me. Whenever I'm around you, I want to… I want to hug you, or kiss you, or just _tell_ you. Now everything has become awkward, and I'm not sure how to fix it. I don't know what it is about you Thalia Grace, but I think I might be falling in love with you."

By the way he blurted out the last bit, I could tell that he hasn't been meaning to, but he was thinking it, and ADHD got the best of him. I hadn't looked in his direction yet, and I could feel the anxiety rolling off of him like waves.

Smiling slightly, I faced him, so that we were literally two inches away from each other. That's when I said the words that I had only just realized myself about ten seconds ago. "I think I might be falling in love with you too." I whispered, before leaning forward and closing the gap between us.

**AN: I tried to make it longer to make up for the wait. Any specific couples you want me to work on or continue? Also, I know that all the chapters in the story have at least some sort of romance, but I guess that's just the type of writer I am. I just want to know if you guys think that it's becoming too much or if it's ok. Please review with any feedback or questions! On another random note, who's excited for the Sea of Monsters movie? If you've seen the trailer, it seems like it'll be pretty awesome! They need to hurry up and release it already! And one more very important thing: Happy Birthday to SephCurrentDaughterofPoseidon! :)**

**~Skylar**


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